Lefty newshound Arianna Huffington was a bit too liberal — with her BlackBerry use — aboard a commercial jet to La Guardia over the weekend, authorities say.
Huffington, 60 — a noted author and columnist who runs the online Huffington Post — was about to take off from Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, when she defied the United Airlines captain’s command for passengers to turn off their electronic devices, prompting an angry man to get up from his seat in protest of her continued chatting and texting, sources told The Post.
The ensuing battle resulted in Huffington and the other flier, identified as Ellis Belodoff, 53, of Plainview, LI, being hauled off the plane for questioning once it landed. Both were released without being charged.
Law-enforcement sources said the face-off began at 10:10 p.m. as the flight was taking off and Belodoff “advised [Huffington] to turn BlackBerry off. [She] was slow in complying.”
The man repeatedly ignored warnings to stay in his seat as he leaped up to complain, sources said.
“She wouldn’t turn off her BlackBerry, even when we pushed back from the gate,” one passenger told the Web site Valleywag.
“We took off, and it became apparent that the phone was still on, which very much upset her neighbor.”
“Hey, lady! Don’t you speak English?” the man allegedly heckled Huffington.
Huffington later admitted to cops, “I may have turned [my BlackBerry] on too early,” sources said.
Her rep, Mario Ruiz, sniffed: “There was a passenger who seemed upset. Arianna thought he didn’t like the snacks. Guess not. Maybe he was an iPhone fan. As you know, the battle between iPhone lovers and BlackBerry users can get pretty heated.”